UFC News: Alexander Gustafsson opens up on his UFC 232 loss to Jon Jones
What's the story?
Alexander Gustafsson might have ended up on the losing side at UFC 232 but one cannot take away the fact that the Swedish fighter gave his best and definitely was a tough task for Jon Jones to get past.
Gustafsson, in his post-fight Press Conference, provided an update on his groin injury, which he injured at UFC 232.
In case you didn't know...
Jon Jones made his highly awaited return to the UFC Octagon at UFC 232, in the main event of the show against Swedish fighter Alexander Gustafsson. Having faced off five years ago at UFC 165 in 2013, this was the rematch between the two Light Heavyweight fighters.
Jones, however, made quick work of Gustafsson and finished off the fight in the third round in fascinating fashion, finishing 'The Mauler' via third round TKO.
The heart of the matter
At UFC 232, Alexander Gustafsson wasn't able to capture the UFC gold and seemed to be very disappointed with his performance, as he expressed and opened up about his loss in the Post Fight Press Conference in Los Angeles.
Gustafsson noted that early on in the first round of the fight, Jones shut down 'The Mauler' and did what he had to do in order to win the fight. Gustafsson claimed that he definitely wasn't tired or anything and had his conditioning, however, wasn't able to move properly due to the groin injury he had suffered early on. (H/T: MMAjunkie)
“He got me very, very early in the first round. Very early. After that I just shut down. I wasn’t tired, I had my conditioning. I felt good. We had our exchanges and everything. He just shut me down very early in the first round and I couldn’t move at all. I told my corner that too and all that. He did what he was supposed to do and made sure he won the fight.”
What's next?
Alexander Gustafsson is bound to return to the Octagon in the near future and also considered the potential idea of moving up to Heavyweight. However, as of right now, nothing regarding The Mauler's future has been confirmed.